(Image: Ionian Dolphin Project)
In the Odyssey, Homer tells of on the beaches of ancient Greece. But these days they are hardly ever seen 鈥� their , making them the world鈥檚 most endangered seal.
So Joan Gonzalvo, of the in Milan, Italy, was delighted to see a monk seal while on a dolphin survey in western Greece last week.
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鈥淲e could hardly believe that what we had in front of us was a monk seal,鈥� he says. 鈥淭hen we saw it voraciously preying on an octopus just a few metres away from our boat.鈥� From the estimated size of the animal, around 130 centimetres long, Gonzalvo says it was a pup or juvenile seal.
Gonzalvo says he was struck, while watching the seal happily eating near his boat, by the trusting nature that has long made it an easy target for hunters.
The area鈥檚 octopuses don鈥檛 seem to be having an easy ride either. Gonzalvo, who runs the , has previously seen one stuck to the genitals of a dolphin.
